Local Action for Wildlife

The wildlife of the Highlands is set to benefit from £100,000 of funding for 24 local projects over the next three years. One of these projects is an innovative Rhododendron control method which will be trialled in the Highlands and monitored by Forestry Research.

The “lever and mulch” method of Rhododendron control requires no power tools, no fires and no herbicides, just an understanding of the inherent strengths and weaknesses of Rhododendron ponticum and lots of elbow grease. Branches are cut in strategic places to form effective levers (and to disentangle them), then the stumps are either levered out the ground in their entirety, overturned and left to dry, which kills them, or, if part of the stump is left in the ground it is covered  (mulched) with the cut branches and leaf litter from other bushes. This kills almost all of the plants but if some re-sprout they can be removed relatively easily.

This project will involve local volunteers to clear an area of Rhododendron, the equivalent of four full-size football pitches in the Movern Community Woodland in Lochaber. In addition it will produce a guidance document and demonstrate and train others in this method of removal. Rhododendron can be a real problem in native woodlands where it can shade out the forest floor plants and rare mosses and lichens. It is also highly invasive and has proved extremely expensive and difficult to control using other methods.

This is just one of 24 local projects running from 2008 until 2010 that follow on from the Highland Biodiversity Action Plan Implementation Programme that ran from 2004 to 2007. During this time £90,000 of funding was provided to help 37 community led biodiversity projects.

The funding is being provided by the Heritage Lottery Fund, The Highland Council, Scottish Natural Heritage, Highlands & Islands Enterprise and RSPB Scotland.

Councillor Isobel McCallum, Chairman of The Highland Biodiversity Partnership, and Vice Chairman of The Highland Council’s Planning, Environment and Development Committee, said:  “As a region, Highland is extremely lucky to have a tremendous variety of habitats and richness of species that is unequalled anywhere else in the country. The Highland Council is committed to ensuring that our wildlife and environment is protected and properly looked after. Volunteers working on these biodiversity projects are all actively helping with conservation and doing their bit to enhance the natural heritage of their local communities.”

Anyone who would like to find out more about how to get involved in local biodiversity projects should contact The Highland Council’s Biodiversity Officers Janet Bromham or Jonathan Willet on 01463 702274.